Yuzvendra Chahal is not in India’s Test squad for the upcoming series against Bangladesh, but the leg-spinner is in superb red-ball form.
Chahal claimed career-best match figures of 9/99 to earn Northamptonshire their first County Championship victory of the season, defeating Derbyshire by 133 runs.
Chahal followed up his five-wicket haul in the first innings with a 4/54 in the second to demolish Derbyshire, who were shot out for just 132. Northamptonshire’s scores in the match were 219 and 211, while Derbyshire managed just 165 in their first innings.
Chahal hunted down the rival batters along with off-spinner Rob Keogh, who took 5/44 in the second innings and had a match haul of 8/110.
Keogh was all praise for the Indian tweaker. “We call him the magician. He’s got a bag of tricks and luckily it was too cold for him to get all of them out! He said he just stuck to the flipper a few times and that got him some wickets,” Keogh was quoted as saying by the Northamptonshire Chronicle.
“I think it helps me, not only his cricket brain, he knows spin bowling, but it takes the pressure off me at the other end and I feel like I can just bowl and not worry about going for too many runs... I’ve been lucky enough to bowl with some great spinners, but he’s (Chahal) got to be up there,” Keogh added.
During the match, Chahal also completed a personal milestone of 100 first-class wickets.
Shakib show
Bangladesh spinner Shakib Al Hasan too is busy playing in the County Championship. All-rounder Shakib claimed 5/96 in the second innings for Surrey against Somerset. Like Chahal, Shakib toohad a nine-wicket (9/197) match haul.
Shakib will hope to carry on with the form in the upcoming Tests against India.
